There are more than three million citizens in Florida over the age of 70 and Governor Ron DeSantis does not believe that they should have to wait to be protected from COVID. He announced plans to challenge the CDC’s guidelines on who should receive priority treatment for vaccinations and will inoculate Florida’s elderly before “essential workers”.
“In Florida, we have to put our parents and grandparents first and that is what we are going to do,” DeSantis told reporters. “And we’re going to work like hell to be able to distribute all the vaccines to the elderly who want to.”
It is difficult to argue against this reasoning.
“Essential workers” include postal workers, rescuers, grocery workers, teachers and others according to the CDC. “We are not going to put young, healthy workers ahead of our vulnerable elderly population,” added DeSantis.
Orlando Sentinel:
“For us in Florida, we are making it clear that the executive order … is to vaccinate people 65 and over,” Governor DeSantis told reporters during a vaccination demonstration at the Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola. He added that elderly residents, who face a higher risk of death due to COVID-19, should take precedence over younger essential workers.
The order requires vaccine providers in the first phase to administer vaccines only to residents and employees of long-term care facilities; those aged 65 and over; and health professionals with direct contact with patients.
There will be a bottleneck in obtaining so many doses for all those who need and desire.
DeSantis said that vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are already in most hospitals, and county health departments can start vaccinating as early as Monday. But he also warned that health departments would have a limited supply available.
“We will continue to receive hundreds of thousands of doses of the vaccine,” he said.
68,133 people were vaccinated with the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine in Florida by Tuesday, according to state data. Those who receive the first dose should receive a second booster injection about 21 days later to be fully immunized.
Some Democratic governors, like JB Pritzjer of Illinois, complain about not getting their share of vaccines. In fact, because it takes two doses to fully immunize someone, the feds were sending half the number of promised doses to the states as they prepared to send the other half in a few weeks.
But that did not stop Pritzker from complaining. With millions of doses of ice in deposits, the paranoid Pritzker believes the president is punishing him for his strong criticism.
WBEZ:
The announcement prompted Pfizer to issue a separate statement on Thursday morning, saying that the reduction in the number of vaccines destined for the states was not the result of problems in the manufacture or delivery of the vaccines. The pharmaceutical company added that it has millions more doses in deposits awaiting instructions from the federal government on where to send them.
Pritzker on Thursday seemed to give up on Pfizer’s statement.
“I don’t know what to say about that,” said the governor. “I haven’t had any direct conversations with the people who control these doses. Our (Illinois Department of Public Health) speaks to the federal government every day and we have not been informed why the federal government is not withdrawing these vaccines. “
In contrast to Pritzker, DeSantis is not whining or complaining, he is acting. Perhaps Pritzker could learn a lesson from Florida and do the same.